Eutte  :^ter  .up  ply 
Project 

By 


William  Hammond  HP  11 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT   LOS  ANGELES 


ROBERT  ERNEST  COWAN 


BUTTE 

WATER  SUPPLY  AND  LAND 

PROJECT: 


The  Physical,  Engineering  and 
Business  Problems  Jj  Conditions, 

WM.  HAM.  HALL. 


A    Report   Addressed  to 

MESSRS.   FRANK  MCLAUGHLIN, 
A.   F.  JONES,  AND 
E.  W.  FOGG, 

Oroville,  California. 


-•'ANY  SAT*    FKAXCJSCO. 

i  Printers.  •  r,  1891. 


BlJTTE 

WATER  SUPPLY  AND  LAND 

PROJECT: 


The  Physical,  Engineering  and 
Business  Problems  Jj  Conditions, 

WM.  HAM.  HALL. 


A   Report  Addressed  to 

MESSRS.   FRANK  MCLAUGHLIN, 
A.  F.  JONES,  AND 
E.  W.  FOGG, 

Oroville,  California. 


BACON  &  COMPANY  SAN  FRANCISCO, 

Printers.  October,  1891. 


C  2- 


BUTTK  WATER-SUPPLY  AND  LAND  PROJECT. 

CONTENTS  OF  REPORT. 
THE  REPORT  AND  MAPS. 

Treatment  and  Character. 
THE  LOCATION. 

The  General  Location. 

The  Plains  Irrigable  Areas — First. 

The  Plains  Irrigable  Areas — Second. 

The  Foothill  Irrigable  Area— Third. 
WATER  SUPPLY. 

West  Branch,  Little  Butte,  Big  Butte. 

Heavy  Grades — The  Ridge  Surmounted. 

The  Old  Mining  Ditches. 

The  Snow,  Hendricks,  Miocene,  Flea  Valley. 

The  Thompson  Flat  and  Nickerson. 
IRRIGATION  DEVELOPMENT  ENTERPRISE. 

Increasing  Land  Values. 

Work  of  High  Class  Possible— When. 

Localities  in  California — Where. 

The  Sacramento  Valley  Locality. 
THE  PROPOSED  ENTERPRISE. 

The  Proposition. 
co  The  Irrigable  Lands. 

Cultivation  and  Water  Duty. 

Measure  of  Water  Demanded. 
oZ  Measure  of  Water  Supply. 

Water  Storage  Project. 
Zi   WATER  DELIVERY  AND  WORKS. 
2|  Maximum  Delivery. 

Main  Delivery  Works. 

Snow-Nickerson  Line. 

Miocene-Flea  Valley- Miocene  Line. 

New  Ditch-Powers-New  Ditch  Line. 

Main  Delivery  Capacity — Table. 
BRANCH  DELIVERY  WORKS. 

Main  Branches. 

Wick's  Point  Branch,  i. 

Wick's  Point  Branch,  2. 

Byrne's  Point  Branch. 

Upper  Therm alito  Branch. 

South  Side  Branch. 
SPECULATIVE  IRRIGATION  ENTERPRISE. 

Its  Foundation. 

Irrigation  Industry  Profits. 

Commercial  Value,  Land  and  Water-rights. 


304728 


4  Butte    IVater  and  Land  Project. 

Cost  of  Development  recouped  in  Land  Profits. 
Bonus  Payments  for  Water-rights. 
Profits  in  Developed  Lands  with  Water. 
Annual  Income  from  Water  Service. 
Favorable  Natural  Conditions,  not  all. 
The  Day  of  Ordinary  Works  gone  by. 
The  Day  of  Ordinary  Management  gone  by. 
Assurance  of  Completeness. 
High  Class  Works. 

Skilled  Management  Necessary. 
CHARACTER  OP  WORKS  ESSENTIAL. 

General  Character  Described. 

Southern  California  Examples. 
TOWN  WATER-SUPPLYING  ENTERPRISE. 

Naturally  coupled  with  Irrigation  Enterprise. 

The  Towns  of  Chico  and  Oroville. 

Convenience  of  Supply. 

Value  of  such  Franchises. 
WATER- POWER  AND  ITS  APPLICATIONS. 

Its  Connection  with  such  Developments. 

Electric  Railway  Schemes. 

The  Peculiar  Advantages  of  this  Field. 

Value  of  such  Franchise. 
THE  SCOPE  OP  THE  ENTERPRISE. 

The  Organization. 

General  Development  Company. 

Water-Supply  Enterprise. 

Laud  Development  Enterprise. 

Electric  Railway  Enterprise. 
ESTIMATES  OF  COST  OF  WORKS. 

Water-Supply  Works. 

Chico  Supply  Works. 

Electric  Railway. 
A  FINANCIAL  PROJECT. 

Money  Returns — Invested  Capital. 

Profit  on  Lands. 

Sale,  Water  Rights. 

Estimated  Outlay. 

Estimated  Return. 

Capitalized  Income. 
WAYS  AND  MEANS. 

Organization. 

Stock  Subscription. 

Contracts — Options . 

Promotion— Course  to  be  Followed. 
CONCLUSION. 

Responsibility  as  to  Reports. 


WM.   HAM.   HALL,  STATE  IRRIGATION  ENGINEER  OF  CALIFORNIA:    1878-1888. 

CONSULTING  CIVIL  ENGINEER,  SUPERVISING  IRRIGATION  ENGINEER 

SAN    FRANCISCO,  U.  S.  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY  ;  1880-1890. 

CALIFORNIA. 
ADDRESS:  79  FLOOD  BUILDING. 


SAN  FRANCISCO,  Sept.  soth,  1891. 

Messrs.  FRANK  MCLAUGHLIN,  A.  F.  JONES,  E.  W.  FOGG, 
Oroville,  Cat. 

Gentlemen  : 

Complying  with  your  commission  to  me, 
I  have  made  an  extended  preliminary  examination  of  the  field 
for  irrigation  and  water-supplying  enterprise  in  Butte  County, 
over  the  region  lying  between  Chico,  Oroville  and  Biggs,  and 
including  the  commanding  watersheds  of  the  West  Branch  of 
Feather  River,  and  the  Butte  Creeks,  and  now  submit  a  re- 
port, as  follows  : 

REPORT  AND  MAPS. 

The  report  is  written  and  maps  prepared,  so  that  you  may, 
upon  their  authority  and  with  their  data,  explain  the  situation 
to  those  who  know  nothing  of  the  locality,  and  are  altogether 
unfamiliar  with  the  subject.  Hence,  there  is  much  necessarily 
said  and  shown  that  is  not  new  to  yourselves. 

Two  general  maps  are  handed  you  :  (i)  One,  small  scale,  of 
the  upper  end  of  the  Great  Central  Valley  of  California,  show- 
ing the  location  of  the  region  referred  to,  with  reference  to 
well-known  geographic  features  ;  and  (2)  A  large-scale  map 
covering  the  special  field  reported  on.  Careful  examination  of 
these  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  generalities  of  the  situation 
better  than  any  explanation,  however  extended  or  detailed  ; 
hence,  in  this  connection,  I  write  little  else  than  short  notes 
and  references,  to  induce  study  of  the  maps  themselves. 

THE  LOCATION. 

THE  GENERAL  LOCATION. — In  Butte  County,  North-Central 
California  ;  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Sacramento  Valley,  and 


6  Butte    Water  and  Land  Project. 

at  the  western  footing  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains.  There 
are  three  irrigable  areas  adjacent  to  each  other,  in  this  neigh- 
borhood, available  for  the  enterprise,  as  follows  : 

THE  PLAIN'S  IRRIGABLE  AREAS.—  First:  Upon  the  plain  be- 
tween Feather  River  (on  the  south)  and  Butte  Creek  (on  the 
north),  the  foot-slopes  of  Table  Mountain  (on  the  east),  and  the 
Oregon  division  of  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad  (on  the  west). 
The  town  of  Chico  (5,000  inhabitants),  about  ten  miles  north  ; 
the  town  of  Oroville  (1,800  inhabitants),  immediately  south. 
The  city  of  San  Francisco,  180  to  200  miles  (seven  to  eight 
hours)  distant  by  rail,  via  Sacramento,  and  twenty  to  forty 
,  miles  nearer  by  the  Knights  Landing  route.  (See  small-scale 
general  map.) 

Referring  to  the  larger-scale  map,  we  find  this  same  general 
locality  definitely  outlined  and  shown  more  in  detail. 

THE  PLAIN'S  IRRIGABLE  AREAS. — Second:  The  rolling  lands 
and  plains  next  south  of  Feather  River,  and  practically  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  first  body  of  lands  named. 

THE  FOOTHILL  IRRIGABLE  AREA. — Third:  We  also  see  on 
the  larger  map  the  outlining  of  a  foothill  region,  favorable  to 
enterprises  of  the  class  proposed.  This  higher  irrigation  field 
lies  at  elevations  between  1,000  and  2,100  feet  above  the  sea, 
on  the  sloping  plateau-like  ridge  and  spurs  between  the  canons 
of  the  West  Branch  of  Feather  River  and  the  Butte  Creeks, 
which  are  next  written  of.  This  irrigable  area  is  sometimes 
referred  to  herein  as  Paradise  Plateau,  from  the  name  of  the 
principal  settlement  now  there. 

WATER  SUPPLY. 

The  streams  of  perennial  supply  which  immediately  com- 
mand these  irrigable  areas,  and  are  available  in  large  part  for 
their  watering,  are  the  West  Branch  of  the  North  Fork  of 
Feather  River,  generally  known  as  and  hereinafter  referred  to 
simply  as  the  "  West  Branch,"  and  the  Butte  Creeks,  herein- 
after spoken  of  as  "  Little  Butte  "  and  "  Big  Butte,"  respect- 
ively. 

The  West  Branch  heads  about  forty  miles  north  and  eight 


.The   Water-Supplying  Streams.  7 

miles  east  of  Oroville,  flows  in  a  general  direction  quite  nearly 
south,  passing  about  seventeen  miles  east  of  Chico ;  joins, 
about  twelve  miles  northeasterly  from  Oroville,  the  main  North 
Fork,  which  in  turn,  seven  miles  east  and  north  of  the  same 
town,  joins  the  main  river ;  and  the  waters,  thus  combined,  find 
their  way  to  the  plain  through  a  foothill  gorge  at  the  town 
itself. 

The  West  Branch  is  "in  a  precipitous  mountain  canon 
throughout  its  length.  Rising  at  an  elevation  of  about  5,800 
feet  above  the  sea,  it  falls  about  5,000  feet  within  the  thirty 
miles  (in  a  general  alignment,  or  about  forty  miles  by  the  wind- 
ings) of  that  part  of  its  course  (to  the  point  known  as  Cape 
Horn)  considered  in  this  report.  This  is  at  an  average  rate  of 
about  1 66  feet  per  mile  of  the  more  direct  alignment,  or  125 
feet  per  mile  of  channel. 

East  of  this  canon  lies  a  main  ridge  of  the  Sierra  Nevada 
mountains  ;  west  of  it  is  the  Dogtown  ridge,  whose  western 
footing,  in  turn,  is  in  the  canons  of  the  Butte  creeks. 

An  appeal  to  the  map  shows  the  West  Branch  and  Big  Butte 
as  the  main  canons  of  the  local  system,  with  Little  Butte  as  an 
intermediate  mountain  drain  tributary  to  Big  Butte. 

Like  the  West  Branch,  Big  Butte  is  a  rapid-falling  torrent, 
held  in  a  mountain-flanked  gorge.  Little  Butte  has  the  same 
character,  only  its  canon  is  less  deeply  cut. 

Diversion  of  waters  from  either  stream  is  an  accomplishment 
of  apparent  great  difficulty.  But  owing  to  the  very  rapid  de- 
scent of  the  canons,  and  considerable  longitudinal  dip  of  the 
intervening  ridge,  the  length  of  grade  lines  practicable  on  which 
to  bring  waters  from  the  canon's  depths  to  the  ridge's  summit, 
are  not  as  great  as  casual  inspection  would  lead  one  to  suppose. 


The  gold  miners  discovered  this  fact  along  in  "  the  fifties,  " 
and  during  the  twenty-five  years,  from  1855  to  1880,  six  ditches 
out  from  the  West  Branch  brought  waters  over  ' '  the  ridge, ' ' 
and  two  or  three  from  the  Big  and  Little  Buttes  surmounted  it 
from  the  opposite  direction. 

They  constitute  the  material  evidence  of  the  appropriation 
of  these  water  supplies,  and  represent  rights  to  titilize  all,  and 


8  Butte    Water  and  Land  Project. 

more  than  all,  of  the  ordinary  low- water  flow  of  the  several 
streams  named. 

In  order  of  location  from  the  head  of  the  stream  down,  the 
West  Branch  ditches  are  the  Dewey  and  Miner's,  Snow,  Hen- 
dricks,  Miocene,  and  Flea  Valley.  The  two  first  named  have 
served  to  take  West  Branch  waters  over  the  ridge  into  Big 
Butte  creek,  from  whence  they  were  again  diverted  at  lower 
points  for  mining  purposes. 

The  Snow  served  chiefly  to  carry  West  Branch  waters  over 
the  ridge  into  Little  Butte,  for  diversion  thence  by  ditches  be- 
low. The  Hendricks,  Miocene,  and  Flea  Valley  each  brought 
West  Branch  waters  out  to  the  top  of  the  ridge,  thence  along 
its  top  and  slopes  to  points  between  Pentz  Valley  and  Oroville, 
for  mining  purposes. 

Leading  out  from  Little  Butte  on  to  the  ridge,  are  found  the 
Thompson  Flat  and  Nickerson  ditches.  The  first  represents 
the  oldest  water-right  herein  named.  The  last  is  of  the  most 
recent  construction,  and  is  not  one  of  the  real  old  mining  ditch- 
es first  above  referred  to,  at  all. 

The  Snow,  Hendricks,  Miocene,  Flea  Valley,  Thompson 
Flat,  and  Xickerson  ditches,  being  owned  by  you,  represent 
the  water-rights  and  existing  works  with  which  I  am  called 
upon  especially  to  deal. 

To  keep  the  main  part  of  the  report  as  brief  as  possible,  I 
omit  detailed  descriptions  of  these  properties  at  this  point,  and 
embody  them  in  appendices. 

IRRIGATION   DEVELOPMENT  ENTERPRISE. 

The  business  enterprise  for  which  I  here  find  apparently  a 
favorable  field,  is  of  a  class  peculiar  to  the  State  of  California. 

In  a  report  on  one  of  the  Southern  California  districts,  very 
recently  submitted  to  the  President  of  the  State  Association  of 
Irrigation  Districts,  the  writer  hereof  took  occasion  to  describe 
and  speak  of  this  particular  class  of  irrigation  development ; 
and  what  was  therein  said  seems  so  fitting  as  an  explanation 
of  the  subject  for  the  present  report  that  some  of  the  more 
appropriate  paragraphs  are  here  quoted  : — 

' '  The  irrigation  works  of  this  district,  as  designed  and  in 


High- Class  Speculative  Enterprise.  9 

"construction,  represent  a  type  believed  to  be  original  in  Califor- 
4 '  nia.  Such  works  are  practicable,  commercially,  only  where 
' '  lands  of  low  value  without  irrigation  can  be  raised  to  more 
41  than  ordinarily  high  value  with  it.  A  number  of  conditions 
4 '  must  be  present  to  render  this  possible.  Southern  California 
44  and  localities  in  the  middle  and  northern  part  of  the  State, 
"  alone,  so  far  as  the  writer  knows,  have  been  shown  to  possess 
4 '  all  of  these.  It  is  not  asserted  that  all  and  equal  advantages 
4 '  are  not  present  elsewhere  ;  but  merely  that  their  presence  has 
44  not  as  yet  been  widely  demonstrated  to  the  knowledge  of 
"  that  class  of  people  who  are  seeking  them." 

Then,  after  detailing  the  advantages  found  in  these  localities, 
the  report  went  on  to  say  that  they  ' '  are  such  as  not  only  to 
"  make  possible,  but  to  invite,  the  residence  of  a  more  intelli- 
"  gent,  energetic,  ingenious,  and  thrifty  class  of  people  to  en- 
' '  gage  in  irrigation  than  are  found  elsewhere  as  irrigators. 
4 '  They  come  to  these  neighborhoods  with  capital — some  large, 
' '  some  small,  so  far  as  money  goes, — but  nearly  all  with  some 
"capital  in  money,  and  with  much  more  than  the  old-fashioned 
41  agriculturist's  or  of  the  foreign  irrigator's  capital  of  intelli- 
44  gence,  pluck,  and  business  training." 

' '  This  is  what  makes  commercially  practicable  the  construc- 
44  tion  of  the  expensive  class  of  irrigation  works,  of  which  this 
"  district  presents  an  example  medium  in  cost." 

' 4  There  is  a  class  of  people  who  will  live  in  this  kind  of  ir- 
4 '  rigation  region  and  become  horticulturists,  who  can,  because 
4  4  of  advantages  above  recounted,  make  a  greater  horticultural 
44  success  on,  and  a  correspondingly  greater  revenue  from  the 
44  lands,  and  hence  can  afford  to  pay  more  for  them  than  peo- 
4 '  pie  who  have  had  less  advantages  of  education  and  business 
44  training,  and  have  been  raised  in  communities  of  less  thrift. 
4  4  Now,  this  other  class  of  people  is  often  found  in  ordinary 
14  farming  neighborhoods,  and  dominates  many  irrigation  quar- 
44  ters  elsewhere.  Hence,  one  potent  reason  for  the  justification 
"of  higher  values  on  irrigated  lands,  and  greater  costs  of  irri- 
4 '  gation  works,  here  than  in  such  '  elsewheres. ' ' ' 

"  Irrigation,  of  the  higher  orders  particularly,  in  California 
44  has  not  been  made  what  it  is  by  those  who  were  before  either 
"  irrigators,  farmers  or  horticulturists,  but  by  a  class  of  intelli- 


io  Suite    Water  and  Land  Project. 

"  gent,  thrifty  and  industrious  business  men.  And  this  class 
"come  here,  settle,  and  become  irrigators,  not  only  because  of 
"  business  enterprise,  but  on  account  of  pleasant  and  healthful 
"surroundings  and  conditions,  which  notably  prevail  in  at 
"least  a  number  of  California  irrigation  neighborhoods.  The 
"  expenditure  of  thirty  to  thirty-five  dollars  per  acre,  and  even 
"  more,  on  lands  worth  one  to  twenty  dollars  dry,  in  works  to 
' '  make  them  yield  large  margins  of  profit  over  interest  on 
' '  several  hundred  dollars  per  acre,  and  in  rendering  possible  a 
"  business  at  once  pleasant  and  healthful,  as  well  as  profitable, 
"  for  cultivated  people,  has  been  to  such  men  not  only  a  solid 
"  business  proposition,  but  an  operation  for  enthusiasm.  This 
' '  constitutes  the  business  of  irrigation  enterprise  development. 
"  Irrigation  is  its  supplement." 


And,  finally,  after  speaking  of  the  district  then  being  re- 
ported upon,  as  a  development  of  this  class,  and  pointing  out 
how  its  lands  are  being  divided,  settled  and  cultivated  in  small 
tracts,  the  report  concludes  its  general  picturing  of  irrigation 
growth  of  this  particular  kind  in  the  following  words : 

' '  Because  of  these  things,  we  find  irrigation  works  of  a 
' '  character  in  California  whose  prototypes  would  be  not  only 
"  commercially  impossible,  but  socially  absurd,  to  be  proposed 
"in  an>*  of  the  great  irrigation  countries  of  Asia  or  Africa ; 
' '  and  would  not  be  much  more  fitting  for  enterprise  even  in 
"  France." 

One  of  the  localities  in  Northern  California,  referred  to  in 
the  above  paragraphs  as  being  favorable  to  this  class  of  devel- 
opment, is  that  which  you  have  now  asked  me  to  specially  ex- 
amine and  report  upon  for  the  guidance  of  your  private  enter- 
prise. 

As  to  this  particular  region,  in  a  report  on  another  one  of 
the  irrigation  districts  made  (also  to  the  President  of  the  State 
Association  of  Irrigation  Districts)  but  a  few  months  ago,  the 
writer  had  occasion  to  speak  as  follows  : 

"On  the  eastern  side  of  the  Sacramento  valley,  immediate- 
"  ly  opposite  the  northern  part  of  the  Central  Irrigation  Dis- 
"trict,  and  only  20  miles  away  from  it,  is  a  region  20,000  to 


Northern  California  Locality.  \  i 

"  30,000  acres  in  extent,  with  soil  good  and  rich,  and  receiv- 
* '  ing  a  rainfall  each  year  several  inches  in  excess  of  that  in  the 
* '  Central  District,  where  even  wheat  farming  by  the  most  eco- 
"nomical  methods  is  a  failure.  That  special  region  will  not, 
"  in  its  dry  state,  continue  for  long  to  support  its  one  voter  to 
"  the  square  mile.  And  yet  these  red,  gravelly  lands  west  and 
* '  north  of  Oroville  and  south  of  Chico,  when  irrigated,  are  as 
"  fine  fruit  lands  as  any,  except  in  a  few  limited  localities,  in 
"the  state;  and,  as  has  been  amply  demonstrated,  will  sup- 
< '  port  a  population  as  dense  as  it  is  desirable  to  have  in  any 
"country.  In  this  example  the  necessity  for  irrigation  is  due 
4 '  to  the  composition  and  physical  condition  of  the  soils  and 
"  subsoils,  and  is  not  consequent  upon  deficiency  in  rainfall." 


THE  PROPOSED  ENTERPRISE. 

The  present  proposition,  then,  is  to  create  actual  high  val- 
ues for  the  red,  gravelly  lands  of  this  body,  that  have  hitherto 
been  productive  of  nothing  but  failure  in  wheat  farming,  by 
serving  them  in  irrigation  with  waters  which  your  ditch  rights 
control,  and  to  deliver  which  these  old  works  themselves  can 
in  great  measure  be  utilized. 

THE  IRRIGABLE  LANDS. —  There  are,  in  the  first  plains  re- 
gions described,  and  readily  commanded  by  the  works  spoken 
of,  about  40,000  acres  of  good  tillable  lands,  but  not  over  28,000 
acres  are  adapted  in  character  of  soil  to  irrigation. 

Of  this  area,  about  5,000  acres  are  thin  in  soil.  Of  the  bal- 
ance, your  present  Therrnalito  tract  embraces  8,000  acres,  of 
which  you  have  sold  about  3,000.  Thus,  there  are  20,000 
acres,  including  your  unsold  balance,  available  for  speculative 
enterprise,  and  23,000  here  available  for  water  service. 

The  foothills  area,  third  above  described,  embraces  about 
12,000  acres  ;  of  which,  according  to  my  examination,  about 
one-half,  or  six  thousand  acres,  may  well  be  counted  upon  in 
the  enterprise. 

The  second  plains  area  south  of  the  river  extends  away, 
southward,  indefinitely  ;  but  there  are  5,000  to  10,000  acres  of 
suitable  land  within  reach  of  economic  service  there. 


12  Butle   Water  and  Land  Project. 

In  my  opinion,  an  irrigation  enterprise  at  this  general  local- 
ity should  be  based  on  the  expectation  of  ultimately  serving 
30,000  acres  of  land  :  5,000  acres  of  the  mesa  or  plateau,  20,- 
oooon  the  plains  north  of  the  Feather,  and  5,000  on  the  roll- 
ing lands  and  plains  south. 


CULTIVATIONS  AND  WATER  DUTY. — This  region  is  adapted 
to  the  growth  of  a  remarkable  variety  of  most  valuable  prod- 
ucts by  irrigation.  For  the  plateau  district,  I  mention  hardy 
fruits  —  apples,  pears,  prunes  and  peaches,  especially  ;  for  the 
higher  plain  and  rolling  lands  (the  warm  and  frostless  belt),  cit- 
rus fruits,  olives,  figs,  and  the  vine  ;  for  the  river  bottom 
lands,  deciduous  fruits  in  general,  except  the  apple,  but  more 
especially  the  cherry,  apricot  and  fig;  and  for  the  lower  plains, 
the  vine,  alfalfa,  field  vegetables,  besides  a  variety  of  deciduous 
fruits. 

The  unit  of  water-supply  generally  used  in  estimates  for  large 
open-canal  irrigation  projects  on  the  plains  of  this  country  is 
the  cubic  foot  per  second,  or  ' '  second -foot ' '  in  technical  phrase- 
ology. In  dealing  with  water  in  smaller  volumes  for  irrigation 
enterprises  of  higher  order,  especially  in  the  southern  part  of 
this  State,  and  also  in  the  foothill  and  mountain  counties  of 
Central  and  Northern  California,  where  mining  practice  estab- 
lished the  custom,  the  "miner's  inch,"  or  simply  the  "inch," 
is,  however,  more  often  employed  as  the  unit. 

The  miner's  inch,  according  to  the  form,  size,  and  condition 
of  the  measuring  apparatus  used,  (and  these  were  not  the  same 
in  different  localities  and  on  different  works,)  varied  in  actual 
volume  of  flow.  That  used  in  the  locality  and  on  the  old  works 
here  reported  upon,  was  equivalent  to  about  the  fortieth  part 
of  a  cubic  foot  per  second. 

But  the  inch  now  generally  used  in  irrigation  districts  is  the 
equivalent  of  about  the  fiftieth  part  of  the  second-foot,  and 
hence  this  is  the  measure  herein  adopted. 

In  speaking  of  water  duty,  we  refer  to  the  extent  of  service 
which  water  will  perform  in  irrigation.  According  to  the  char- 
acter of  crop  and  of  soil  and  subsoil,  method  of  irrigation,  skill 


Fruit  and   Vineyard  Irrigation.  13 

and  care  on  the  part  of  the  irrigator,  and  kind  of  works  for  de- 
livery and  distribution,  the  duty  of  water  in  California  varies 
between  half  an  acre  and  ten  acres  to  the  inch. 

Citrus  fruit  orchards  in  full  bearing  require,  on  the  average, 
the  actual  service  of  one  inch  of  water  to  five  acres,  on  such 
lands  and  soils  as  are  available  for  their  growth  in  this  region, 
somewhat  less  being  required  during  the  first  part  of  the  sea- 
son, and  somewhat  more  during  the  last  part.  Alfalfa  and 
clover  should  have  more  in  the  early  part  of  the  season,  but 
not  necessarily  so  much  during  the  last  half.  Deciduous  fruits 
and  vines  may  be  averaged  as  requiring  an  inch  to  four  acres, 
for  the  shorter  season  of  their  demand. 

Citrus  fruits  require  irrigation  during  "all  the  dry  months  ; 
alfalfa  and  clover,  also,  demand  water-service  throughout  an 
equally  long  season  —  both  fully  covering  the  long-water  pe- 
riod of  the  streams.  The  irrigation  of  deciduous  fruits  ends 
with  July  ;  and  vines,  well  set,  should  not  be  irrigated  later 
than  June. 

In  an  irrigation  district  principally  devoted  to  deciduous 
fruits,  and  not  growing  citrus  fruits,  where  one  inch  to  four 
acres  is  demanded  during  the  first  three  months  of  each  season, 
experience  shows  that  there  is  a  water  demand  for  sundry 
small  irrigations  during  the  last  three  months,  of  about  i  inch 
to  125^  acres. 


MEASURE  OF  WATER  DEMAND. — Upon  the  basis  of  these 
general  ideas,  I  estimate  that  with  the  classes  and  distribution 
of  cultivations  which,  in  my  judgment,  should  be  looked  for- 
ward to  here,  you  would,  to  serve  30,000  acres,  as  above,  have 
to  deliver  during  the  months  of  May,  June  and  July,  an  aver- 
age, in  round  numbers,  of  6,900  ;  and  during  August,  Septem- 
ber and  October,  an  average  of  3,840  inches  of  water.  The 
following  is  an  illustration  of  this  adjustment  and  conclusion. 
The  first  period  embraces  May,  June  and  July  ;  the  second 
period  August,  September  and  October. 


i4  Butie    Water  and  Land  Project. 

Amt.  Water    Required 
DUtrict.  ist  Period,     ad  Period. 

The  plateau  district,  5,000  acres,  all  in  decidu- 
ous fruits,  clover,  etc. 

At  i  inch  to  4  acres 1,250 

At  i  inch  to  12^  acres 4°° 

The  higher  plains  and   rolling   lands,    12,000 
acres,  all  in  citrus  fruits,  etc. 

At  i  inch  to  5  acres 2,400         2, 400 

The   lower  plains  and   bottom   lands,    13,000 
acres,  all  in  deciduous  fruits,  etc. 

At  i  inch  to  4  acres 3, 250 

At  i  inch  to  12^  acres i ,040 


Totals,  for  the  two  periods 6,900         3,840 

The  project  should,  in  my  opinion,  contemplate  the  supply- 
ing of  a  population  of  10,000  people  in  the  towns  of  Chico  and 
Oroville.  There  is  now  a  combined  number  of  about  6,500  in 
these  two  places  and  their  immediate  suburbs.  Such  supply 
should  be  at  the  rate  of  about  75  gallons  per  day  per  capita. 
This  would  require  a  steady  flow  of  about  59  miner's  inches. 
Making  a  liberal  allowance,  100  miner's  inches  would  meet  all 
demands  for  municipal  purposes. 

The  total  average  demand,  then,  for  the  two  periods  would 
be  7,000  and  3,940  inches.  Based  upon  experience  on  this 
point,  where  observations  of  water  consumption  in  irrigations 
of  this  class  have  been  very  exact  for  long  periods,  this  aver- 
age service  would  be  accompanied  by  maximum  demands  in 
the  several  months  about  as  follows  : 

ist  Period.  2nd  Period. 

May 6,000  inches.  August 5, 500  inches. 

June 8,000  inches.  September.  .  .  . 4,000  inches. 

July 7,000  inches.  October 3,5°°  inches. 


MEASURE  OF  WATER  SUPPLY. — The  supply  of  water  com- 
manded would  have  to  be  sufficient  to  meet  the  maximum  de- 
mands during  each  month.  On  this  point  there  would  never 
be  any  question  of  sufficiency  during  the  months  of  the  first 


Flow  of  the  Streams.  15 

period.  Little  Butte  and  the  West  Branch  will  unquestion- 
ably, during  those  mouths,  afford  enough  and  to  spare,  avail- 
able for  your  diversion  and  this  utilization. 

For  the  several  months  of  the  second  period  also,  according 
to  the  best  data  I  can  secure,  and  so  far  as  my  own  observation 
and  examination  goes,  I  am  justified  in  the  opinion  that  the 
supply  available  and  at  command  of  your  rights  would  in  most 
years  meet  the  demand  above  scheduled.  It  is  probable,  how- 
ever, that  you  would  ultimatel}T  have  to  meet,  by  reservoiring 
surplus  waters  of  spring,  a  deficiency  equal  to  the  flow  of 
about  1,000  to  1,200  inches  for  60  days,  in  some  years.  The 
plans  and  estimates  have  provided  for  this  probable  deficiency 
by  the  following  project  for  storage. 

WATER  STORAGE  PROJECT. — A  very  thorough  reconnoi- 
sance  of  the  commanding  watersheds  heretofore  described  has 
shown  a  singular  absence  of  favorable  storage  sites.  One  only 
seems  available  for  this  enterprise.  Most  fortunately,  you  have 
from  an  old  right  the  privilege  of  utilizing  it ;  and  still  more 
fortunately,  it  seems  just  sufficient  in  capacity  to  avail  you  to 
meet  the  deficiency  in  low-water  supply.  This  is  at  Phil- 
brook  Valley,  as  shown  on  the  map,  where,  according  to  a 
special  survey  and  careful  estimate,  133,730,000  cubic  feet  of 
water  can  be  stored  by  a  dam  66  feet  in  height,  and  at  a  cost 
°f  $37)5°°-  This  is  equivalent  to  a  flow  of  1,200  inches  for 
60  dajrs,  which  is  somewhat  more  than  the  probable  deficiency 
heretofore  referred  to. 


WATER  DELIVERY  AND  WORKS. 

From  the  foregoing,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  maximum  duty 
which  the  works  would  have  to  perform  would  be  to  deliver 
8,000  inches  (160  cubic  feet  per  second)  of  water,  and  this 
then,  would,  of  course,  be  the  gauge  of  aggregate  full  capac- 
ity of  all  the  main  works  necessary. 

Of  this  maximum  amount  1,300  inches  would  be  required  to 
supply  the  Paradise  plateau  and  Chico ;  1,000  inches  would  go 
to  the  rolling  lands  south  of  Feather  river  ;  and  5,700  inches 
to  the  plains  north,  and  to  supply  Oroville. 


1 6  Butte    Water  and  Land  Project. 

MAIN  DELIVERY  WORKS. — For  the  sake  of  brevity  and  di- 
rectness I  do  not  at  this  point  discuss  the  problem  of  different 
ways  and  means  to  divert  and  deliver  this  supply  as  demanded. 
Some  details  of  the  subject  will  be  found  in  an  appendix. 
Conclusions  only  are  here  announced. 

The  Snow  ditch,  now  in  bad  order  and  with  its  flumes  abso- 
lutely gone,  can  cheaply  and  to  advantage  be  cleared,  and  gen- 
erally rehabilitated  to  carry  1,500  inches  of  water.  This  was 
formerly  a  good  ditch,  on  a  good  location,  and  will  be  again 
when  reconstructed  as  above.  Its  diversion  dam  is  still  good. 

The  Nickerson  ditch  is  a  good  ditch,  in  good  order,  with  a 
present  capacity,  for  three  miles,  of  about  800  to  1,000  inches. 
It  can  readily  and  cheaply  be  increased  in  capacity  to  2,500 
inches,  and  extended  to  deliver  1,500  inches  to  the  Miocene  at 
Kunkle  Point.  Its  diversion  dam  in  Little  Butte  is  good  and 
in  good  condition. 

These  two  ditches,  then,  would,  with  the  intervening  natur- 
al channels  of  Little  Butte  and  other  small  creeks  availed  of 
(as  per  detailed  description  elsewhere),  form  a  means  of  bring- 
ing a  maximum  of  i ,  500  inches  of  West  Branch  waters  to  the 
Miocene  line  at  the  point  named,  and  would  en  route  meet  the 
demand  for  irrigation  on  the  Paradise  plateau,  and  of  the  branch 
line  to  supply  the  city  of  Chico. 

The  Hendricks  ditch  for  any  purpose  of  the  water  delivery 
heretofore  scheduled  is  useless.  It  is,  in  large  part,  in  exceed- 
ing bad  rep  ar  ;  its  location  is  bad,  its  alignment  unfavorable 
and  excessive  in  length.  The  desired  object  can  be  better  ef- 
fected by  counting  this  work  out,  except  as  to  it?  water  light, 
of  course. 

The  Miocene  ditch  proper,  down  to  Kunkla  Point,  is  now 
capable  of  delivering  about  2000  inches  of  water,  and  even  more 
for  some  parts  of  the  route  ;  but  the  flume  work  on  the  way, 
of  which  there  is  an  aggregate  length  of  7200  feet,  is  old  and  in 
weak  condition.  Its  present  safe  capacity  throughout  will  not 
exceed  1250  inches.  This  line  of  delivery  can  at  moderate 
cost,  as  elsewhere  explained  in  detail,  be  put  in  condition  to  per- 
manently deliver  2500  inches  also  at  the  Kunkle  Point. 


Outline  of  Main    Works.  17 

By  the  means  thus  outlined  we  could  supply  all  the  demand 
above,  (on  Paradise  plateau  and  for  the  Chico  line,)  and  deliver 
4000  (1500  +  2500)  inches  to  this  point.  The  next  objective 
and  governing  location  is  Reservoir  Hill,  at  Parish's.  The 
Old  Flea  Valley  Ditch,  which  rounds  the  point  and  comes  into 
Kuiikle  ravine  400  feet  lower  than,  and  a  mile  away  from,  the 
above  point  of  delivery  on  the  Miocene,  is  the  best  conduit  for 
service  here.  It  can  be  cheaply  cleared,  and  made  to  carry  the 
above  volume  of  water  over  this  portion  of  the  route  efficiently 
and  permanently.  It  has  a  good  location  for  the  purpose. 

The  narrow  divide,  known  as  Reservoir  Hill  or  Parish's,  is 
the  controlling  point  in  topography  for  this  scheme.  An  ex- 
amination of  the  topographical  maps  submitted,  shows  this 
better  than  words  can  in  brief  space  explain. 

Leaving  1300  inches  of  water  to  supply  the  maximum  de- 
mand on  the  Paradise  plateau  and  at  Chico,  the  works  just  out- 
lined, with  a  full  capacity  to  deliver  4000  inches,  will  bring  to 
Parish's  3700  inches  of  water.  Then  the  further  problem  of 
new  construction  or  repair  of  old  works  would  be  to  deliver  west 
of  the  divide  at  that  point  the  remaining  3000  inches  to  meet 
the  maximum  demand  of  6700  inches  beyond  there. 

The  Thompson  Flat  ditch  from  Little  Butte  to  Parish's  is  of 
no  use  in  this  project.  It  would  cost  more  to  rehabilitate  and 
put  it  in  proper  condition,  than  to  enlarge  the  Nickerson  to 
perform  all  the  desired  service  for  this  part  of  the  route.  Con- 
centration of  waters  into  one,  rather  than  conducting  them  in 
two  parallel  channels,  is  of  course,  an  object.  The  Nickerson 
ditch,  enlarged  as  above,  will  conduct  all  the  water  which  the 
Snow  ditch  from  the  upper  West  Branch,  and  the  natural  flow 
of  Little  Butte,  will  afford  at  the  critical  periods.  Hence,  the 
Thompson  Flat  ditch  is  not  to  be  counted  on  for  this  enterprise 
above  Parish's. 

The  Flea  Valley  ditch  above  Kunkle  Point  was,  when  in  use, 
almost  all  in  flume  work,  carried  around  the  most  precipitous 
and  almost  inaccessible  rock  cliffs.  This  fluming  is  now 
practically  gone  —  rotted  away  and  tumbled  down. 


The  question  which  had  to  be  considered  in  providing  means 
of  delivery  for  the  additional  3000  inches  to  the  west  side  of 


1 8  Butte   Water  and  Land  Project. 

the  divide  at  Parish's,  was,  first,  one  of  availibility  of  supply  ; 
second,  one  of  cost. 

For  reasons  given  elsewhere,  it  appeared  that  the  additional 
supply  must  come  from  the  West  Branch,  and  not  from  L,ittle 
Butte  Creek.  The  latter  could  not  be  counted  upon  to  afford 
it  when  wanted. 

Even  the  West  Branch,  to  insure  a  sufficiency,  should  be 
tapped  for  the  purpose  as  low  as  the  Miocene  diversion,  and 
not  as  high  as  the  Snow  diversion. 

Hence,  the  alternative  was  :  (i)  to  enlarge  the  Miocene  to 
carry  3000  more  than  the  2500  inches  already  projected  as  its  re- 
newed capacity,  or  5500  inches  in  all  ;  (2)  to  rebuild  out  from 
the  Flea  Valley  dam  on  the  former  flume  line  to  the  Flea  Valley 
ditch  in  Kunkle  ravine,  (at  the  point  from  whence  it  is  pro- 
posed to  be  utilized  for  Miocene  waters,  in  the  part  of  the  pro- 
ject already  reviewed,)  and  enlarge  the  Flea  Valley  ditch  from 
there  on  to  carry  6700  inches  (net)  to  Parish's  ;  or  (3)  to  build 
a  new  ditch  of  3000  inches  (net)  capacity  out  from  the  river  on 
a  lower  grade  line.  As  elsewhere  shown,  these  figures,  to  in- 
sure the  net  delivery  desired,  and  cover  contingencies,  would 
really  have  to  be  7000  and  3300  inches  respectively. 

The  question  was  complicated,  also,  with  the  one  of  conduct- 
ing capacity  beyond  Parish's.  The  whole  matter  was  consid- 
ered on  the  basis  of  actual  surveys  and  by  comparative  prelim- 
inary estimates.  As  a  result,  I  am  of  the  opinion  that,  for  the 
purpose  of  this  enterprise,  the  additional  3,000  inches  of  water 
can  best  be  brought  out  on  a  new  grade  line  from  the  West 
Branch,  commencing  just  above  Cape  Horn— tunneling  through 
that  point,  or  rounding  it  by  means  of  an  iron  flume, — and 
tunneling  through  the  dividing  ridge  at  Parish's,  as  shown  by 
the  detailed  topographical  map  covering  this  locality  herewith 
submitted,  in  addition  to  those  heretofore  described. 

I  do  not  stop  here  to  explain  the  course  of  reasoning  in  the 
matter,  or  to  point  out  why  this  is  the  best  policy.  The  data 
are  embodied  in  appendices  hereto. 

The  result  is  that  the  scheme  of  works,  as  now  outlined,  pro- 
vides a  capacity  of  4,000  inches  by  the  combined  old  upper 
lines,  as  already  described,  to  a  point  on  the  Flea  Valley  ditch 
overlooking  the  Parish  divide,  and  about  1,070  feet  above  the 


Outline  of  Main    Works.  19 

sea  level ;  and  provides  for  a  new  ditch  to  deliver  3, 300  inches 
at  the  lower  end  of  a  tunnel  on  the  west  side  of  the  divide,  270 
feet  lower  than  the  point  of  delivery  on  the  Flea  Valley,  above 
described,  and  2,000  feet  distant  therefrom,  as  shown  on  the 
detail  map  last  above  referred  to. 

This  disposition  provides  for  300  inches  of  capacity  in  excess 
of  the  demand  schedule,  by  each  of  the  lines, — a  precaution 
taken  to  cover  losses,  and  for  reasons  not  necessary  to  discuss 
here. 


The  problem  beyond  the  Parish  divide  was  as  to  how  far  the 
old  works  could,  to  advantage,  be  utilized  in  carrying  forward 
these  waters  from  the  two  points  named. 

Again,  the  inadvisability  of  dividing  the  waters  more  than 
really  necessary,  and  decidedly  economical,  had  to  be  kept 
clearly  in  review. 

The  tunnel  output  of  the  new  ditch  line  would  be  at  a  lower 
elevation  than  any  of  the  old  works  at  this  point.  Hence,  this 
lower  line  would  have  to  be  continued  as  a  new  construction. 
But  all  of  the  old  ditches — the  Flea  Valley,  Miocene,  and 
Powers, —  would  be  available  to  carry  forward  for  several  miles 
more  the  3,700  to  4,000  inches  brought  to  the  Parish  divide 
on  the  upper  line  of  supply. 

The  Flea  Valley,  however,  extends  only  a  couple  of  miles 
further,  and  the  Thompson  Flat,  or  Powers,  makes  a  big  drop 
at  about  the  same  point.  The  Miocene  alone  goes  forward  for 
a  considerable  distance  on  an  even  gradient.  It  has,  with  clear- 
ing, capacity  to  Coal  Canon  of  about  2,500  inches. 

The  plan  recommended  is  therefore  to  avail  of  the  full  capac- 
ity of  this  latter  ditch  to  the  point  last  named,  but  to  abandon 
the  Flea  Valley  ditch  beyond  Parish's,  and  also  the  Thompson 
Flat  ditch  to  its  middle  level  beyond  the  Cherokee  branch  of 
Dry  creek.  Hence,  of  the  4,000  inches  maximum  delivery  on 
the  upper  line  at  the  Parish  divide,  2,500  would  be  crossed  over 
in  pressure  pipes  to  the  present  Miocene  ditch,  beyond  the 
low  saddle  of  the  divide,  and  1,500  would  be  dropped  into  the 
New  ditch  at  the  tunnel  output,  immediately  below. 

The  New  ditch  would  thence  have  a  capacity  of  (3,300  + 
1,500)  4,800  inches  to  Miller's  Point,  where  distribution  would 


20  Butte    Water  and  Land  Project. 

commence  ;  thence  to  Coal  Canon  Point  its  capacity  would  be 
4,600  inches.  Here  200  inches  more  would  be  distributed,  and 
1,500  received  by  it  from  the  Miocene  above.  Crossing  Coal 
Canon  ravine  the  capacity  would  be  5,900  inches.  Thence  to 
Wick's  Point,  200  would  be  dropped  in  distribution.  Capacity 
at  Wick's  Point,  5,700  inches.  This  would  be  the  first  main 
point  of  division.  A  branch  pipe  line,  900  inches  capacity, 
would  go  west,  and  another  south  and  west,  of  1,100  inches 
capacity,  as  shown  in  the  map.  Thence  to  the  second  main 
point  of  division  the  ditch  would  have  capacity  of  3,700  inches, 
bringing  it  to  Byrne's  Point.  From  here  a  line,  part  ditch,  part 
pipe,  would  lead  forward  to  the  present  Thermalito  reservoir  ; 
and  from  the  same  point  a  branch  pipe  line  would  go  out  upon 
the  plain  toward  Biggs,  or  west  of  South  Thermalito.  This 
delivery  and  division  of  the  waters  may  appear  somewhat  more 
clearly  from  the  following  schedule. 


TABULAR  STATEMENT— MAIN  DELIVERY  WORKS. 

Snow   Ditch. 


Capacity  at  Head 

Distribution — 
Discharges  into  Little  Butte 

Nicker  son  Ditch. 

Capacity  at  Head 

Distribution — 
Honey  Run  and  Clear  Creek 

Ridge 500  in. 

Clear  Creek  and  Dry  Creek 

Ridge 400  in. 

Dry  Creek   and  W.   Branch 

Ridge 400  in. — 

Discharges  to  Miocene  Ditch 

Miocene  Ditch. 

Capacity  to  Kunkle  Flat 

Supplied  from  Nickerson 

Drop  to  Flea  Valley     


Inches. 
1,500 


2,500 


1,300 


1,500 


1,200  tO  I,SOO 


2,50O 
+  I,20O  tO  1,500 

3, 700  to  4,  ooo 


Capacity,  Main  Delivery    Works.  21 

Flea  Valley  D.  Capacity  to  Reservoir  Hill .  .  .  4,000 

Drop  to  New  Ditch — 1,500 

Capacity  to  Coal  Canon 2,500 

Drop  to  New  Ditch — 1,500 

Capacity  to  Miocene  Reservoir  and  South  of 

River !  ,000 

New  Ditch. 

Capacity  to  lower  end  of  Tunnel 3,300 

Supply  from  Miocene  (Flea  Valley) +  1,500 

Capacity  to  Miller's  Point 4, 800 

Miller's  Point  Distribution —    200 

Capacity  to  Coal  Canon  Point 4,600 

Coal  Canon  Point  Distribution —    200 

Supply  dropped  from  Miocene +  i  ,500 

Capacity  crossing  Coal  Canon 5,900 

Distribution  before  arriving  at  Wick's  Point —    200 

Capacity  at  Wick's  Point 5,700 

Wick's  Point  Branch  (i)  West —    900 

Wick's  Point  Branch  (2)  South — i,  TOO 

Capacity  to  Byrne's  Point 3,700 

South  Thermalito 'Branch — 2,700 

Upper  Thermalito  Branch — 1,000 

BRANCH  DELIVERY  WORKS. — The  foregoing  system  of  works 
would  provide  for  delivery  across  the  head  of  the  Paradise  pla- 
teau. All  other  works  there  can  properly  be  ranked  as  dis- 
tributaries, and  be  so  estimated.  The  Miocene,  or  high  line  of 
delivery,  simply  serves  in  part  to  supply  the  low  line,  and  con- 
ducts 1,000  inches  of  water  to  the  Miocene  reservoir  on  the 
south  point  of  South  Table  Mountain,  ultimately  to  be  piped 
across  the  river  to  the  rolling  land  district,  south.  This  exten- 
sion of  the  Miocene  system  is  referred  to  in  the  estimates  as  the 
South  Side  Branch. 

From  the  New  Ditch,  low  line  of  delivery,  four  main  branches 
would  be  taken  :  A  pipe  line  from  Byrne's  Point  to  Thermalito 
reservoir,  called  the  Upper  Thermalito  line  ;  the  L,ower  Ther- 
malito line,  from  Byrne's  Point  southwesterly  into  the  plain  to- 
wards Biggs ;  and  two  branches,  Nos.  i  and  2,  from  Wick's 
Point.  The  estimates  refer  to  them  by  the  foregoing  names. 


Butte    Water  and  Land  Project. 


SPECULATIVE  IRRIGATION  ENTERPRISE. 

The  development  of  irrigation  neighborhoods  affords  a  legit- 
imate field  for  speculative  enterprise,  and,  rightly  managed, 
yields  rich  returns.  At  the  bottom  of  this  truth  lies  the  fact 
that  irrigation  not  only  removes  doubt  as  to  farming  and  horti- 
cultural harvests,  but  fixes  those  returns  at  figures  that  pay  in- 
terest on  high  land  values,  and  enables  a  man  of  moderate  cap- 
ital to  establish  an  independent  business  on  a  comparatively 
very  small  area  of  land.  Men  have  grown  well-pff,  on  ten-acre 
tracts  in  California,  and  twenty  acres  is  all  a  farmer  of  moder- 
ate abilities  cares  to  handle  in  fruits  and  other  high  produce 
under  irrigation. 

Lands  with  water-rights  (water  delivered,  not  distributed) 
and  all  conditions  suited  to  deciduous  fruit  growing,  command 
in  the  ordinary  irrigation  neighborhoods  in  California,  from 
$50  to  $100,  unimproved;  and  in  the  better  neighborhoods 
prices  range  to  $200  per  acre.  For  citrus  fruit-growing,  suit- 
able land  and  water-right  prices  scale  50  to  100  per  cent  higher. 

The  best  fruit  lands,  when  irrigated,  are  generally  those 
which  were  not  good  for  much  without  water.  They  are  usu- 
ally so  situated  that  heavy  outlays  of  capital  for  large  and  ex- 
pensive works  have  to  be  made  to  deliver  and  advantageously 
distribute  water  to  them.  No  mere  cultivator  can  alone  pro- 
vide for  irrigating  his  tract  on  these  great  areas  of  fruit  lands. 
Capital,  organization  and  special  enterprise  has  to  provide  for 
the  development  of  such  areas  in  bulk,  in  order  that  the  result 
may  be  attained  at  reasonable  cost  per  acre. 

Then  the  intending  cultivator,  in  buying  his  small  tract, 
looks  at  the  large  yield  he  will  get  from  it  annually.  In  his 
purchase  price,  he  freely  pays  the  developing  company  a  price 
that  covers  its  outlay,  proportionately  to  acreage  bought,  and  a 
profit  besides,  and  enters  into  an  agreement  to  pay  thereafter, 
annually,  for  water  service,  a  rate  that  affords  ths  company  a 
handsome  revenue  on  cost  of  works,  for  which  it  has  probably 
been  fully  recouped  in  the  land  sales. 

Or  the  owner  of  dry  lands  in  large  area,  desiring  to  cut  up 
his  property  and  sell  to  small  farmers,  buys,  from  the  water- 


The  Business  of  Irrigation  Development.  23 

supplying  company,  rights  to  water  for  his  tract  in  bulk,  pay- 
ing as  much  as  it  costs  to  deliver  it,  and  usually  with  a  profit 
also  ;  and  in  making  the  purchase,  he  puts  upon  the  land  a 
contract  that  it  is  to  be  served  with  water  thereafter  at  rates 
yielding  the  revenue  to  the  developing  company,  as  above  writ- 
ten. 

Where  first-rate  lands,  well  located,  can  be  bought  and 
served  with  water  by  a  really  high-class  system  of  works,  such 
as  I  have  planned,  at  a  total  outlay  of  $60  per  acre,  there  should 
be,  when  adapted  to  citrus  growth,  a  first  profit  averaging  $60 
to  $100  an  acre  in  their  sale,  or  $30  to  $60  when  intended  for 
deciduous  fruit  raising,  and  an  annual  net  revenue  for  water 
service  of  $1.50  to  $3  per  acre  from  them,  thereafter. 


Granting  natural  conditions  favorable  in  every  respect,  how- 
ever, such  result  will  yet  depend  on  the  manner  in  which  the 
works  are  planned  and  carried  out,  and  on  business  manage- 
ment in  marketing  the  property.  It  is  easy  enough  to  show 
large  profits  in  irrigation,  to  cite  examples  without  number, 
to  give  well  authenticated  figures  from  individual  cases,  and 
from  aggregate  neighborhood  results,  as  to  how  fruit  raising, 
vine  growing,  raisin  making  and  the  olive  industry  pay. 
But  while  speculative  enterprise  in  irrigation  development  de- 
pends on  these  irrigation  successes,  it  has  now  come  to  be  a 
separate  business,  and  is  to  be  studied  of  it.self.  Its  problem  is 
to  promptly  bring  in  a  people  to  buy  the  lands  at  good  figures, 
improve  them  well,  and  to  keep  this  population  satisfied  with 
the  management.  This  class  of  enterprise  requires  not  only 
"a  fair  field  and  no  favor,"  but  a  thoroughly  competent  and 
peculiarly  fitted  manager,  —  a  man  of  special  experience,  tact 
and  judgment. 

Moreover,  completeness  must  be  assured  from  the  beginning. 
It  will  not  do  to  start  such  an  enterprise  with  any  less  money 
in  sight  than  enough  to  carry  it  out.  The  hand-to-mouth 
method  of  carrying  land  and  water  developments  along  is  om- 
nipresent in  California.  If  a  project  is  strong,  financially,  and 
is  carried  forward  with  boldness  and  proper  show  of  strength, 
in  advance  of  demand  for  the  lands,  and  with  displayed  ability, 


24  Butte    \Vater  and  Land  Project. 

it  succeeds.  People  are  anxious  to  buy  property  thereunder, 
when  it  is  skillfully  advertised  and  shown  that  plenty  of  money 
and  good  management  are  building  well  planned,  good  and  ex- 
tensive works,  covering  good  lands  in  a  good  neighborhood. 

The  application  of  this  lesson  is  apparent  to  the  case  of  your 
project.  A  whole  lot  of  money  can  be  made  for  original  invest- 
ors with  the  ditch  properties  you  own  and  the  lands  you  con- 
trol, if  you  have  capital  enough  to  carry  out  a  notable  enter- 
prise,— and  do  carry  it  out, — and  able  men  of  irrigation  engineer- 
ing ability  and  business  experience  to  manage  it. 

There  is  competition  in  this  class  of  enterprise.  The  best 
schemes  and  the  best  management  are  making,  and  will  con- 
tinue to  make,  mone}r  for  the  original  investors. 


CHARACTER  OF  WORKS  ESSENTIAL- 

This  brings  me  to  a  description  of  the  character  which,  in  my 
judgment,  should  be  given  the  works  of  your  enterprise,  in 
order  to  assure  success.  In  a  report  on  a  Southern  California 
Irrigation  District  recently  submitted  to  the  President  of  the 
State  Association.  I  reviewed  the  general  class  of  works  which 
now-a-days  commands  attention,  and  makes  salable  the  lands 
served,  in  the  following  words  : — "  Consider  for  a  moment  the 
' '  supplying,  delivery,  and  distribution  of  water  to  these  *  *  * 
"  lands.  It  is  brought  in  a  steel  pipe  under  high  pressure,  from 
1 '  a  far  water-shed  not  tributary  to  the  *  *  *  Valley,  a  dis- 
"  tance  of  10  miles ;  then  it  is  put  through  a  concrete-lined  tun- 
"  nel  about  half  a  mile  in  length,  piercing  a  dividing  mountain 
"  ridge  ;  then  in  concrete-lined  ditches,  steel  pipes,  wooden 
"pipes,  and  '  iron-stone '  cement-laid  pipes,  20  miles  additional, 
"  to  the  commanding  corner  of  each  2o-acre  tract  on  which  it 
"is  to  be  used.  Practically,  none  of  it  is  lost.  It  is  brought 
' '  from  its  mountain  home  pure,  sweet,  and  quite  cool.  It  is 
"  delivered  fit  for  domestic  use.  It  will  be  so  used  up  to  the 
"limit  of  demand.  And  even  in  its  distribution  within  the 
' '  fields  and  orchards,  it  will  be  conducted  in  pipes  or  cement 
"  ditches,  to  within  a  few  feet  of  the  especial  square  yard  of 
"  ground  into  which  it  will  be  permitted  to  soak  in  irrigation. 

' '  There  are  no  irrigation    works  of  as  high    an   economic 


High-Class    Works  Necessary.  25 

' '  grade,  projected  to  supply  tens,  and  almost  hundreds,  of  thous- 
"  ands  of  acres,  elsewhere,  as  are  some  of  the  California  series 
"  into  which  the  *  *  *  District  system  enters. " 

There  are  now  large  areas  of  land  already  served  and  being 
prepared  for  irrigation  service  in  this  way  in  Southern  Califor- 
nia. The  projects  are  well  managed  ;  the  managers  are  exam- 
ples of  the  theory  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  as  working  in 
irrigation  development  business.  Your  enterprise  would  have 
to  cope  with  those  of  the  southern  counties.  Your  field  is  of  a 
description,  and  the  conditions  of  your  water-supply  are  such, 
as  to  fix  only  one  character  possible  for  your  works.  They 
must  be  first  class. 

Mountain -side  ditches  and  flumes,  where  water  is  carried  in 
good  volume  so  as  to  retain  its  purity,  will  do  as  main  conduits 
out  from  the  canons ;  but  distribution  must  be  made  by  pipes, 
or  for  main  branch  lines,  by  cement-lined  or  concrete  ditches  ; 
and  for  secondary  distribution,  by  glazed  earthenware  ("iron- 
stone ' ')  pipes. 

This  is  the  character  of  works  which  I  have  planned  and 
estimated  upon.  There  is  no  example  of  the  kind  in  either 
Central  or  Northern  California.  Your  enterprise,  thus  mate- 
rialized, would  be  a  long  step  in  advance  for  its  region.  I  do 
not  know  of  another  likely  soon  to  follow  in  this  line  in  North- 
ern California,  and  only  one  or  two  in  the  central  part  of  the 
State.  The  material  conditions,  therefore,  seeming  favorable 
for  a  successful  venture  of  a  certain  kind  at  your  locality,  the 
character  to  be  given  your  works  must  not  be  mistaken. 

TOWN  WATER-SUPPLYING  ENTERPRISE. 

Naturally  coupled  with  this  irrigation  development  project, 
as  with  all  projects  of  its  class,  is  one  of  municipal  supply. 
Wherever  such  an  irrigation  district  succeeds,  a  dense  and 
thrifty  population  is  established.  Prosperous  towns  and  cities 
grow  up.  The  rural  neighborhood,  from  the  nature  of  the  ir- 
rigation works,  has  a  good  supply  of  clear  water  for  domestic 
use.  The  towns  then  naturally  demand  water  service  also  of 
high  grade — pure  water  under  pressure  in  pipes,  and  in  abun- 
dance. There  are  already  two  large  towns  in  the  immediate 


26  Butte   Water  and  Land  Project. 

neighborhood  of  the  field  of  your  possible  enterprise, — Chico 
and  Oroville, — having  a  total  population  of  about  7,000  people. 
Biggs  has  several  hundred  more.  With  any  reasonable  success 
in  your  irrigation  neighborhood,  there  would  in  a  very  few 
years  be  10,000  people  in  the  two  first-named  places.  It  is  con- 
servative to  count  on  this  forecast  of  results  to  follow  such  de- 
velopment enterprise  here. 

Except  for  the  cost  of  good  service  reservoirs  and  a  better 
distribution  system,  the  Oroville  works  would  cost  nothing 
extra  above  the  irrigation  outlay.  Delivery  to  service  reser- 
voirs near  town,  of  the  extra  few  inches  required  for  the  mu- 
nicipal and  domestic  use  of  say  3,000  people,  would  not  make 
a  material  difference  in  outlay  for  the  main  irrigation  water- 
supply  works. 

To  serve  Chico  would  require  an  outlay  for  delivery  works 
as  elsewhere  described  and  estimated,  and  located  as  shown  on 
the  general  map. 

There  is  certainly  to  be  a  profit  realized  from  this  adjunct  to 
the  main  scheme.  Municipal  water-supply  franchises  for  towns 
between  3,000  and  10,000  inhabitants  are  handsomely  paying- 
properties  throughout  the  West. 

I  know  of  no  neighborhood  where  two  such  good  municipal 
customers  could  be  so  advantageously  and  cheaply  served  with 
good  water  as  Chico  and  Oroville  could  be,  in  connection  with 
the  irrigation  system  I  have  planned  for  you. 


WATER-POWER  AND  ITS  APPLICATIONS. 

The  recent  advances  in  electric  lighting,  and  the  transmis- 
sion and  application  of  power  by  electricity,  have  much  en- 
hanced the  value  of,  and  made  available  water-power  privileges 
wherever  favorably  located  for  generation  of  electricity  for  such 
utilization. 

It  has  now  come  to  be  recognized,  that  because  of  these  ad- 
vances, every  such  privilege  located  near  existing  populations, 
or  where  settlement  is  rapidly  progressing,  has  an  immediate 
and  not  inconsiderable  value,  and  a  prospective  worth  often 
mounting  to  figures  representing  large  capital. 

All  these  water  privileges,  in  good  localities,  will  in  a  few 


Wafer  Power  Privileges  Commanded.  27 

years  be  used,  and  be  very  valuable  —  the  best  and  most  avail- 
able first,  of  course. 

There  is  no  place  in  California  where  more  favorable  condi- 
tions exist  for  water-power  utilization  for  transportation  pur- 
poses, than  at  the  locality  of  your  contemplated  irrigation  water- 
supply  enterprise;  and  there  are  110  water-supply  works  existing, 
or  projected,  in  California,  where  a  greater  amount  of  water 
power,  favorably  located  for  this  purpose,  is  or  will  be  de- 
veloped. 

Referring  to  the  general  map,  for  identification  of  localities, 
and  to  the  general  description  heretofore  given  of  your  ditch 
system,  as  it  is  proposed  to  remodel  and  add  to  it  for  purposes 
of  the  contemplated  irrigation  water-supply  project,  the  follow- 
ing will  be  easily  understood  : 

The  Snow  ditch  waters  (1500  inches  or  30  cubic  feet  per 
second)  are  dropped  (i)  near  Thompson's,  44  feet  into  Ka- 
naka Creek  ;  and  (2)  two  miles  below  Powellton,  400  feet,  into 
Little  Butte  Creek. 

The  combined  Nickerson  and  Miocene  waters,  (3300  to  4000 
inches,  66  to  80  cubic  feet  per  second)  are  planned  to  be  dropped 
from  Kunkle  Point,  400  feet,  to  the  Flea  Valley  ditch  line  in 
Kunkle  Ravine. 

A  portion  of  these  same  waters,  (1200  to  1500  inches)  are 
planned  to  be  dropped  from  the  point  of  ridge  above  the  Parish 
divide,  270  feet,  to  the  level  of  the  New  Ditch  in  the  ravine  at 
the  tunnel  output  below  the  divide. 

Another  portion,  also  1200  to  1500  inches,  are  planned  to  be 
dropped  from  the  Miocene  ditch  at  Coal  Canon  Point,  210  feet, 
into  the  New  Ditch. 

And  2400  to  2700  inches  of  the  New  Ditch  waters  are  planned 
to  be  dropped  200  feet,  to  the  head  of  the  South  Thermalito 
distributary,  at  Byrne's  Point. 

The  five  principal  drops  above  enumerated  can  be  made  to 
afford  from  4000  to  6500  horsepower,  according  to  the  stage  of 
water  in  the  ditches,  developed  on  Pelton  water  wheels,  to  be 
applied  to  the  generation  of  electricity. 


28  Butte    Water  and  Land  Project. 


AN  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  PROJECT. 

These  drops  are  so  located  that  power  developed  at  them 
could  be  applied  most  advantageously  for  the  operation  of  an 
electric  railway  from  Biggs  to  Powellton  (or  even  higher  up  the 
ridge),  and  a  cross  line  from  Oroville  to  Chico. 

The  amount  of  power  developed  on  water-wheels  would  be 
much  more  than  sufficient  for  the  electric  service  of  roads  on 
these  routes,  even  with  the  heaviest  traffic  such  roads  are 
adapted  to. 

The  main  line  (Biggs  to  Powellton)  would  pass  lengthwise 
through  the  greater  areas  and  more  important  parts  of  the  ter- 
ritory your  irrigation  enterprises  would  seek  to  develop.  It 
would  connect  a  most  fruitful  and  beautiful  foothill  region, 
destined,  in  my  opinion,  to  be  one  of  the  most  densely-popu- 
lated and  prosperous  in  the  State,  by  a  direct  and  good  route, 
with  one  of  the  main  railway  arteries  of  the  country. 

The  cross  line  (Oroville  to  Chico)  would  cross  the  territory 
irrigated,  and  connect  a  large  town,  the  county  seat  of  Butte 
County,  now  at  the  end  of  a  branch  line  of  steam  railway,  with 
the  largest  city  in  the  county,  and,  indeed,  in  the  northern  in- 
terior part  of  the  State,  and  on  the  main  railway  already  spok- 
en of. 

Both  lines  would  be  on  routes  naturally  important,  and  des- 
tined, in  my  opinion,  to  become  very  important  in  railway 
traffic. 

It  seems  to  me  that  only  a  thoughtful  consideration  of  this 
situation  is  necessary,  to  show  the  value  of  this  opportunity  for 
local  railway  enterprise. 

These  electric  railroads,  though  not  inexpensive  in  matters 
of  track,  power  stations,  and  wiring,  are,  where  water-power 
of  no  cost  is  available  and  favorably  located,  very  economical 
of  operation.  A  remarkably  large  portion  of  gross  earnings, 
where  there  is  a  reasonably  good  field  and  a  fair  traffic,  is 
applicable  to  interest  account  on  capitalization. 

They  will  pay,  and  are  paying  well  on  routes  where  running 
expenses,  even,  would  not  be  met  by  any  other  system  we  yet 
know  of.  In  my  judgment,  a  road  of  this  character  would  pay 


An  Electric  Railway  Adjunct,  29 

from  the  start  on  the  route  I  have  indicated,  and  in  a  few  years 
would  be  a  handsomely  paying  property. 


As  an  adjunct  to  your  water-supply  and  land-development 
project,  this  electrical  railway  would  be  the  one  desired  addi- 
tional thing  ;  it  would  be  invaluable.  As  I  have  elsewhere  in- 
dicated, success  in  large  irrigation  development  enterprises 
involves  the  population  of  a  neighborhood.  Transportation 
conveniences  and  advertising  are  the  potent  factors  in  this 
problem,  in  addition  to  those  directly  a  part  of  the  water-sup- 
ply and  land  development  works,  and  management  themselves. 

This  electric  railway  realized,  would  make  the  water-supply 
and  land  development  enterprise  a  success  beyond  question, 
and  this  in  turn  would  immediately  put  the  railway  on  its  feet 
as  a  valuable  paying  property. 

I  commend  a  careful  study  of  the  general  map,  in  this  con- 
nection. Observe  the  application  of  that  which  has  already 
been  said.  Note  that  the  foothill  or  mountain  road  would  be 
located  through  a  fine  agricultural  country  for  three- fourths  of 
its  length,  and  the  other  fourth  in  one  of  the  best  timber  belts 
in  the  State,  and  reaching  into  a  region  the  most  desirable  for 
summer  residence. 

THE  SCOPE  OF  THE  ENTERPRISE. 

To  sum  up,  and  review  the  ground  traversed  in  the  forego- 
ing :  In  my  judgment,  there  is  a  remarkably  good  opportunity 
for  money  making  enterprise  and  paying  investment  in  this 
Butte  county  neighborhood,  to  which  your  ditch  properties 
and  water-rights  in  great  measure  hold  the  key.  But  the  op- 
portunity is  one  for  a  large  operation  by  a  financially  strong 
and  thoroughly  organized  company,  and  not  one  for  small  cap- 
ital, or  for  weak  and  ordinary  business  management. 

I  would  advocate  the  formation  of  a  general  development 
company,*  with  sufficient  capital  to  handle  all  the  enterprises 


*  It  may  be  advantageous  to  organize  two  companies  to  carry  forward  this  enter- 
prise—one for  water-supplying  and  one  for  land  handling.  The  formation  of  irri- 
gation districts,  it  is  believed,  however,  does  away  with  some  apparent  reasons  for 
such  plan  of  organization. 


30  Butte   Water  and  Land  Project. 

of  irrigation  and  municipal  water  supply  and  land  development, 
and  probably  the  electrical  railway  construction  and  operation 
also.  The  following  summary  of  the  estimates  of  cost  will  show 
how  much  capital  would  be  required  for  construction  purposes. 


ESTIMATES  OF  COST. 

Irrigation   Water  Supply  and  Delivery. 

Snow  Ditch — 
Construction  new  ditch.  .  .   $1,435  5° 

flumes !>755  °° 

Clearing  old  ditch .   2,446  oo  $5*636  50 


Nickerson  Ditch — 
Enlarging  and  Clearing.  .  .    1,930  oo 

New  flumes 125  80 

$2,055  8o 

Clearing  portion  of  Power's 

Ditch 880  oo 

Construction ,    extension 

ditch 419  60        3,355  40 


Miocene  Ditch — 

Construction,  new  ditch.  .  .  3,311  90 

"      flumes  .  1,979  10 

iron  flumes  .  5,197  50 

Clearing  old  ditch 2,635  °° 

13.123  50 

Flea  Valley  Ditch J.5O5  40      14,628  90 


New  Ditch- 
Earth  and  rock  work  .  .  .  .28,018  oo 

Flumes 2,586  60 

Iron  Flumes .   4, 180  oo 

Pipe  lines 18,810  oo 

Tunnel 14,250  oo 


Ditch 67,844  60 

Dam 15,000  oo 

82,844  60 


Total  cost  of  Ditches .$106,465  40 


Cost — Water  Supply  and  Delivery.  31 

Main  Branch  Works — 
Wick's  Point,  W.  Branch. .  10,932  oo 
S.        "      .  .34,880  oo 

South  Thermalito 71,560  oo 

Upper  Thermalito 8,872  oo 

South  side 20,600  oo  146,844  oo 


253»309  40 
Engineering,  Supt.  and  contingent  expenses,  10  %      24,618  oo 


Total  Cost,  Delivery 277,927  40 

Phillbrook  Valley  Reservoir 37, 218  oo 

Total  Irrigating,  Supply  and  Delivery $315,145  40 

Chico   Water  Delivery. 

Reservoir  at  Nickerson  Ditch $  2,145.00 

Pipe  down  the  ridge 14,256.00 

Reservoir  at  point  of  ridge 3,645.00 

Pipe  to  edge  of  Chico   30,360.00 

Engineering,  Supt.  and  contingent  expenses 5,041.00 

$55,447.00 
Electric  Railway. 

BIGGS   TO    POWELLTON    AND    OROVILLE. 

Grading  and  track  laid $358,718.00 

Power  Appliances 18,700.00 

Electrical  Apparatus  and  Locomotives 126,000.00 

Car  Equipment — passenger  and  freight 6,575.00 

Stations  and  Termini 5,000.00 


Total  Electric  Railway $514,993.00 

Summary  of    Works. 

Irrigation,  Water-suppl}-,  and  Delivery $315,145.40 

Municipal  (Chico)  Special  Delivery 55,447.00 

Total  for  Water-supply  and  Delivery  Works.$37o,592.4O 
Electric  Railway,  adjunct  to  Main  Project 514,993.00 

Grand  Total  $885,585.40 


32  Butte    Water  and  Land  Project. 


A   FINANCIAL   PROJECT. 

The  electric  railway,  while  to  my  mind  a  most  valuable  ad- 
junct to  the  water  and  land  scheme,  is  not  a  necessary  feature 
of  it.  The  suggestion  having  come  entirely  from  myself,  (con- 
sequent on  my  contemplation  of  the  exceptionally  favorable 
water-power  privileges  which  my  proposed  re-arrangement  of 
your  ditch  properties  would  afford),  I  leave  it  out  of  the  follow- 
ing financial  project  as  first  presented,  and  embody  it  in  an  al- 
ternative proposition  afterwards. 

WORKS. — The  foregoing  estimates  on  Water-supply  and  De- 
livery Works,  I  regirdas  so  liberal  in  details  and  in  contingent 
allowances  that,  in  the  following  summary,  I  place  the  proba- 
ble cost  of  works  at  the  round  thous  nd  figure  next  lower. 

RIGHTS. — The  item  of  rights  is  intended  to  cover  payment  to 
yourselves,  individually,  for  your  existing  water-rights  and 
works,  consisting  of : 

Snow  Ditch  and  water-right, 

Miocene  Ditch  and  water-right, 

Hendricks  Ditch  and  water-right, 

Flea  Valley  Ditch  and  water-right, 

Nickerson  Ditch  and  water-right, 

Thompsom  Flat  Ditch  and  water-right, 

Phillbrook  Valley  reservoir  privilege, 

Thermalito  Pipe  Lines. 

LANDS. — Your  Thermalito  Colony  Company  has  about  5,000 
acres  of  lands  left  unsold,  which  I  understand  you  will  be  will- 
ing to  put  into  a  project,  such  as  I  have  outlined,  at  $30  per 
acre.  I  understand,  also,  that  you  will  soon  have  as  much  as 
15,000  acres  additional  of  the  suitable  lands,  on  the  first  plains 
area,  under  bond,  at  a;i  average  of  about  $25  per  acre  ;  and 
about  3,000  acres  of  the  foothills  land,  at  an  average  of  about 
$15  per  acre.  Henc?,  I  make  use  of  these  figures  in  the  follow- 
ing project. 

I  am  of  the  opinion  that  these  lands,  with  water  delivered  as 
herein  contemplated,  and  with  perpetual  water  rights  attached, 
could,  under  proper  management,  be  marketed  in  three  or  four 


Financial  Problem   Outlined, 


33 


years  after  completion  of  the  works,  as  follows  :  About  10,000 
acres,  for  citrus  fruit  growing,  at  an  average  rate  of  about  $150 
per  acre  ;  about  15,000,  for  deciduous  fruit  growing,  on  the 
plains,  at  an  average  of  $100  per  acre  ;  and  the  3,000  on  the 
foothill  or  Paradise  plateau,  at,  say,  $50  per  acre. 

DISTRIBUTION. — The  estimates  for  works  thus  far  herein 
made  were  for  supply  and  delivery,  but  not  for  distribution. 
They  cover  only  main  canals  and  ditches,  and  five  branch  pipe 
lines  out  into  the  body  of  the  lands  to  be  served.  To  effect  these 
irrigations  with  this  supply,  and  to  make  the  neighborhood  one 
in  which  lands  will  command  high  selling  prices,  distribution 
would  have  to  be  effected  to  each  2o-acre  tract  by  pipes. 
"  Iron-stone  "  or  earthenware  glazed  pipes  are  those  best  adapt- 
ed to  this  purpose.  They  are  used  as  simple  grade  channels 
or  under  light  pressures.  The  cost  of  such  distribution,  based 
on  ample  precedent,  would  be,  for  the  lands  you  contemplate 
handling,  not  more  than  $8.00  per  acre  ;  and  hence,  this  figure 
is  used  in  the  following  financial  project.  The  cost  of  distribu- 
tion is  estimated  only,  however,  for  the  23,000  acres  proposed 
to  be  handled  by  the  company.  The  owners  of  the  4,000  acres 
purchasing  water-rights  would  have  to  bear  the  expense  of 
distribution  throughout  their  tracts.  This  estimate  is  on  the 
supposition  that  you  will  serve  water  to  the  3000  acres  of 
Thermalito  lands  already  sold,  without  further  charge  for 
water- rights. 

EXPENSES. — In  all  great  development  projects  of  this  kind 
there  are  expenses  not  properly  chargeable  under  any  of  the 
foregoing  headings.  They  include  commissions,  business  man- 
agement, preliminaries  of  various  kinds,  etc.  The  item  Ex- 
penses is  intended  to  cover  these  in  the  following  financial  pro- 
ject. 

ADVERTISING. — Success  of  enterprises  of  this  class  depends 
no  little  upon  judicious  advertising.  This  is  apt  to  be  a  large 
source  of  expense.  Hence,  it  is  made  a  separate  item  in  the 
following  summing  up. 

MUNICIPAL  SUPPLY. — The  city  of  Chico  ought  to  pay  a  bonus 
of  $100,000  for  such  a  water  supply  as  you  could,  in  the  way 
indicated,  deliver  at  its  limits,  and  also  pay  an  annual  rental 


34  Butte    Water  and  Land  Project. 

for  water  delivered.  Supplying  water  thus  for  10,000  inhabi- 
tants (Chico  and  Oroville)  should  net  you  at  least  $i  .00  per 
capita  per  annum. 

IRRIGATION  SUPPLY. — The  works  I  recommend  are  planned 
to  supply  30,000  acres  in  irrigation.  The  project  provides  for 
your  handling,  by  purchase,  development  and  sale,  23,000  acres 
of  this.  Rights  to  irrigate  with  the  waters  of  the  (7,000)  acreage 
capacity  additional  would  be  sold  to  owners  of  other  lands  for 
$15  per  acre,  as  a  first  payment  for  the  water-right,  and  with 
contracts  to  pay  $2.50  per  acre  per  year.  This  annual  payment 
would  net  you  about  $2.00  per  acre  per  annum. 

CAPITALIZATION. — A  yearly  net  water  rental  of  $2.00  per  acre 
on  30,000  acres  would,  of  course,  represent  6  per  cent  interest 
on  $1,000,000  ;  and  $1.00  per  capita  per  year  net  on  10,000 
people  supplied  in  the  towns,  would  represent  interest,  at  a 
similar  rate,  on  $166,666.  These  rentals  being  continuous,  just- 
ifies capitalization  as  a  permanent  property  return,  as  I  have 
done  in  the  following  summary. 

Upon  the  foregoing  facts  and  considerations  I  now  submit  a 
statement  of  the  gross  outlay,  and  gross  return  which  might 
reasonably,  in  my  judgment,  be  looked  forward  to  in  carrying 
out  the  enterprise  purely  as  a  water  and  land  development  pro- 
ject. 

Estimated  Outlay. 

Works — Water-supply  and  Delivery $370,000 

"  — Distribution  23,000  acres  at  $8 184,000 

Rights — Existing  Ditches,  Water-rights,  etc 375,000 

Lands — Thermalito,  5,000  acres  at  $30 , 150,000 

"  — Plains 15,000  "  "  25 375,ooo 

"  — Foothills..  3,000  "  "  15 45,000 

Expenses — Commissions,  Office,  Administration.  .  .  .  100,000 

' '  — Advertising 50,000 

Total    $1,649,000 

Estimated  Return. — In  Money. 

Land  Sales,     10,000  acres  at  $150  ave $1,500,000 

10,000     "      "    zoo    "    1,000,000 

3,000     "       "      50    "    150,000 


Financial  Problem   Outlined.  35 

Water-rights,    4,000     "      "       15    "    60,000 

Chico  Bonus 100,000 

Total  Money  Return $2,810,000 

Capitalised  Income. 

Net  Water  Rentals  on  30,000  acres  at  $2 $1,000,000 

"    from  10,000  people  at'$i     166,666 


Total  Invested  Return $1,166,666 

Grand  Total  Return $3,976,666 

Money  Profit $1,161,000 


Total  Profit $2,327,666 

ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  PROJECT. — The  electric  railway  herein- 
before planned  would  cost,  in  round  numbers,  $520,000  addi- 
tional to  the  $1,649,000  estimated  total  outlay  for  the  project. 
It  would  probably  take  half  a  million  dollars  more  money  to 
start  the  project,  including  it.  It  would  offset  nearly  one  half 
the  money  profit  above  figured  on. 

But  in  my  judgment,  (i)  the  returns  from  land  sales  would 
be  much  more  prompt,  with  the  railway  project  included  ;  (2) 
the  lands  sold  would  realize  an  average  of  20  per  cent  higher 
prices  ;  (3)  you  could  profitably  handle  for  irrigation  a  larger 
area  of  foothill  or  plateau  lands  at  a  greater  profit,  with  the 
railway  included  in  the  general  project;  (4)  you  could  handle 
at  very  considerable  profit  as  much  as  5,000  acres  of  mountain 
forest  and  woodland,  additional,  for  lumber  business  and  sum- 
mer residence  purposes  ;  and  (5),  in  my  judgment,  the  railroad 
would  pa3r  as  an  investment. 

I  am  not  able,  in  the  short  time  in  which  I  am  to  make  this 
report,  to  collect  the  data,  and  work  out  a  demonstration  of 
this  opinion.  It  will  be  time  enough  to  do  that  when  you  are 
prepared  to  take  the  whole  subject  up,  on  the  basis  of  an  or- 
ganization to  handle  the  land  and  water  project. 


36  Butte    Water  and  Land  Project. 


WAYvS  AND  MEANS. 

To  secure  the  means  to  carry  out  the  land  and  water  enter- 
prise, I  recommend  as  follows  : 

(1)  Organize  a  general  development  company,  with  $i  ,500,  - 
ooo  capital  ;  $700,000  to  be  paid  up  in  money,  $200,000  to  be 
used  in  purchase  of  properties,  etc.,  and  the  balance  to  be  held 
for  the  present,  by  the  company,  and  marketed  later,  if  need 
be. 

(2)  Organize   one  or  two   irrigation   districts  under    the 
state  law,  covering  in  all  say  15,000  acres  of  land  ;  have  dis 
trict  bonds  voted  and  issued  on  the  basis  of  the  lands,  to  the 
value  of  $22  per  acre. 

(3)  Have  your  company  take  the  district  bonds  to  the  value 
of  $14  per  acre,  for  water  rights  and  water  delivered,  leaving 
$8  per  acre  in  bonds  for  use  of  the  district  in  construction  of 
distribution  works,  the  contract  also  to  provide  for  paying  your 
company  an  annual  water  rental  of  $2.50  per  acre  served. 

(4)  Buy  or  bond  20,000  to  25,000  acres  of  the  land  to  be 
irrigated,  whether  inside  or  outside  of  the  proposed  irrigation 
district  does  not  matter  very  much,  but  preferably  outside. 

(5)  Make  contracts  with  owners  of  as  much  more  of  the  30,- 
ooo  acres  to  be  served,  to  take  the  water  and  pay  a  bonus  of 
$15  per  acre  for  it,  and  $2.50  per  year,  giving  mortgages  on 
the  lands  as  security  for  contract,  as  you  can. 

I.     Thus,  before  you  commence  construction  of  the  proposed 
works,  you  should  have  : 

(a}     From    stock   of  company,  either  paid   up  or 

subject  to  call  and  pledged  for  stated  times.  $  700,000 

(b)  Contracts  to  supply  Irrigation  Districts,  with 

bonds  pledged,  to  par  value  of  (10,000  acres 

at  $14) 140,000 

(c)  Contracts  to  supply  lands  not  in  districts  with 

lands  pledged,  (4000  acres  at  $15) 60,000 

(d)  Contracts  to  supply  Chico,  with  bonus  placed 

at  100,000 


Available  initial  assets $1,000,000 


Financial  Organization  of  the  Enterprise.  37 

II.  You  should  have,  also,  contracts  to  purchase,  bonds  on, 
or  actual  ownership  of  20,000  to  25,000  acres  of  land  at  such 
figures  as  have  been  above  written. 

To  entirely  effect  this  purpose,  you  should  have  the  project 
worked  up  in  detail,  with  fine  maps,  plans,  prospectus,  illus- 
trations ;  an  organization  in  good  hands  ;  skillful  advertising 
through  writings  by  authority  that  will  be  recognized. 

First,  get  your  capital  stock  subscribed  ;  second,  get  your 
managers  ;  third,  get  your  organization  perfected  ;  fourth,  get 
your  project  worked  up  in  detail ;  fifth,  get  your  land  districts 
and  town  contracts.  Then  go  ahead. 

Preliminary  to  all  this,  get  whatever  desirable  lands,  etc.,  in 
the  region,  tied  up  on  provisional  contracts  or  bonds,  that  you 
can. 

By  yourselves  taking  $200,000  in  stock  of  the  company  in 
part  payment  for  your  rights  and  existing  works,  this  $1,000,- 
ooo  of  assets  available  before  commencing  work  would  leave 
$449,000  to  be  put  in  as  the  project  progressed.  And,  in  my 
judgment,  this  amount  would  certainly  be  received  from  land 
sales  and  bonusses,  as  required. 

It  may  be  noticed  that  I  have  made  no  provision  for  interest 
account.  The  omission  has  been  intentional.  The  amount  of 
the  item  would  be  difficult  to  determine — depending  so  much 
on  the  manner  in  which  the  financial  part  of  the  project  is  or- 
ganized, and  on  the  degree  of  promptness  attained  in  carrying 
the  project  to  completion — one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars, however,  ought  to  more  than  cover  interest  on  the  paid-up 
capital  until  returned,  this  being  more  than  the  aggregate  of  6 
percent  per  annum  for  over  three  years,  on  the  $700,000  stock 
proposed  to  be  paid  for. 


CONCLUSION. 

In  making  this  report  I  have  endeavored  to  be  liberal  and 
full  in  estimates  of  cost,  and  conservative  in  forecasts  of  results 
and  returns.  In  so  far  as  costs  are  concerned,  I  write  from  an 
intimate  knowledge  of  construction  of  such  works  and  carry- 
ing out  of  such  enterprises,  except  the  electric  portion  of  the 
railway  project,  and  the  estimates  on  this  are  based  on  figures 


304728 


38  Buttc   Water  and  Land  Project. 

furnished  by  several  of  the  principal  electrical  construction  and 
power  companies,  on  the  basis  of  specifications  covering  the 
case  in  hand. 

At  the  same  time,  I  know  from  experience  that  the  cost  of 
works  often  depends  very  much  on  the  engineering  and  busi- 
ness management  of  the  enterprises. 

The  success  of  this  enterprise  as  well  as  the  cost  of  the  works 
would,  if  carried  forward,  depend  very  largely  on  the  manage- 
ment, both  engineering  and  business. 

Hence,  I  am  bound  to  say  to  you,  as  I  now  say  in  every  pre- 
liminary report  of  this  character,  that  I  am  not  in  the  future  to 
be  held  responsible,  professionally,  for  the  result  of  any  enter- 
prise or  work,  or  subsequent  apparent  untruth  of  any  estimate 
put  forward  by  me,  on  any  enterprise,  unless  the  construction 
'.I  of  the  works  shall  have  been  placed  in  my  hands,  or  under 
my  close  supervision,  and  the  management  conducted  under 
my  advice. 

I  shall  be  glad  to  go  over  this  subject,  preliminarily,  in  the 
utmost  detail,  with  any  one  contemplating  investment  in  this 
enterprise,  or  with  any  representative  of  such  persons.  But  my 
estimates  are  based  on  my  own  ideas  and  experience.  An  en- 
gineer should  never  be  held  responsible  for  the  result  of  execu- 
tion of  works  or  realization  of  projects  which  he  himself  has 
not  the  management  of. 

I  firmly  believe  in  the  value  of  your  project.  Without  doubt 
there  are  others  who  can  realize  it  as  well  as  myself.  But  who- 
ever is  to  have  charge  of  the  management  and  execution,  let 
them  first  make  an  independent  estimate  on  what  they  propose 
to  do,  and  take  the  responsibility  of  their  own  acts. 

You  will  understand  that  these  concluding  paragraphs  are 
not  written  for  this  report  alone.  They  are  found  at  the  end 
of  every  preliminary  report  now  made  by  me. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

WM.  HAM  HALL, 

Consulting  Civil  Engineer 


Irrigation  District  Experting.  39 


MEMORANDUM. 

For  the  information  of  those  to  whose'attention  the  foregoing 
report  may  be  brought,  and  who  may^not  be  familiar  with  the 
history  of  irrigation  development  in  the  Far  West  and  on  the 
Pacific  Slope,  the  following  correspondence  is  here  introduced 
by  way  of  identifying  the  expert  whose  opinion  and  advice  we 
have  sought  in  the  matter. 

F.  McL. 

A.  F.  J. 

E.  W.  F. 
OROVIIXE,  CAL., 

Oct.  8th,  1891. 


40  Irrigation  District  Experting. 


CORRESPONDENCE    WITH    LEADING    FINANCIERS 
OF  SAN   FRANCISCO. 


PALACE  HOTEL,  SAN  FRANCISCO, 

June  12,  1891. 
THOMAS  BROWN,  ESQ., 
IGNATZ  STEINHART,  ESQ., 
LLOYD  TEVIS,  ESQ., 
A.  MONTPELLIER,  ESQ., 
R.  C.  WOOLWORTH,  ESQ., 
And  others. 

GENTLEMEN  : 

In  their  endeavors  to  establish  credit  before  the  financial 
world,  the  Irrigation  District  authorities  in  this  State  have 
come  to  realize  the  necessity  for  having  the  several  district 
schemes  and  organizations  reported  upon  by  experts  whose 
qualifications  and  good  standing  would  be  vouched  for  by  those 
persons  controlling  financial  matters  in  San  Francisco — the 
recognized  center  of  business  and  money  for  California. 

Each  district  has  had  its  engineers  and  its  attorneys,  in 
whom  the  respective  district  authorities  have  all  due  confi- 
dence ;  but  the  districts  are  many,  and  the  experts  of  engineer- 
ing who  have  participated  in  the  work  are  several  for  each 
district. 

The  advisability  of  centering  upon  some  one  engineer  to  re- 
view the  labors  of  the  many  heretofore  engaged,  for  the  in- 
formation of  the  financial  public,  suggested  by  yourselves  to 
several  district  representatives  a  short  while  ago,  has  been 
brought  home  to  the  district  authorities.  Speaking  for  many 
with  whom  I  have  communicated,  they  generally  see  it,  and  ap- 
prove of  it. 


Irrigation  District  Experting.  41 

Now,  in  order  to  expedite  matters,  and  to  be  able  to  suggest 
to  the  several  District  Boards  some  definite  line  of  action,  and 
lay  before  them  the  name  of  an  engineer  whom  you  and  other 
controllers  of  local  financial  sentiment  will  recognize  as  of  good 
professional  and  personal  standing,  I,  as  President  of  the  As- 
sociation of  Irrigation  Districts,  profiting  by  the  personal  inter- 
views had  with  you  by  representatives  of  our  districts,  address 
you  the  following  inquiry  : 

In  case  the  respective  Boards  of  Directors  of  Irrigation  Dis- 
tricts in  this  State  employ  Mr.  Wm.  Ham.  Hall,  consulting 
engineer,  to  report  on  the  questions  of  water  supply,  plans  and 
estimates  for  works,  suitability  of  lands,  and  generally  the 
physical,  engineering  and  business  questions  involved  in  each 
district  scheme,  giving  him  all  desired  latitude  for  thorough- 
ness of  work,  will  you  thereafter,  when  in  the  course  of  busi- 
ness you  are  applied  to  for  information  concerning  the  standing 
of  such  district,  reply  that  its  affairs  have  been  examined  by  an 
engineer  competent,  in  your  opinion,  for  the  task,  and  familiar 
with  the  subject  in  this  State,  and  a  man  whom  you  believe  to 
be  trustworthy  for  the  service ;  in  other  words,  that,  in  your 
opinion,  he  is  an  engineer  on  whose  reports  careful  investors 
may  rely  as  much  as  on  those  of  any  engineer  in  this  line  of 
business  ? 

Very  respectfully  yours, 


President  State  Association  of  Irrigation  Districts. 


To  J.  W.  NANCE,  ESQ., 

President  State  Association  Irrigation  Districts. 
SIR: 

We  have  read  your  foregoing  letter  of  June  12,  1891,  and  we 
hereby  answer  in  the  affirmative  relative  to  the  inquiries  re- 
specting Mr.  Hall. 


42  Irrigation  District  Experting. 

In  this  connection  we  would  suggest  that  it  might  be  well 
for  your  Association  to  employ  some  competent  attorney  to  in- 
vestigate the  status  of  the  several  districts,  and  assist  Mr.  Hall 
in  his  work. 

Respectfully  yours, 


Irrigation  District  Experting. 


43 


, 

^^*t* 


NOTE. — As  will  be  seen,  the  above  represent  personal  signatures.  The 
gentlemen  were  addressed  individually,  and  not  as  presidents  and  man- 
agers of  banks ;  and  so,  in  replying,  they  signed  for  themselves  and  not 
for  the  banks.  But  in  order  that  the  value  of  this  certificate  may  be 
known  to  those  persons  not  familiar  with  San  Francisco  banking  organ- 
ization, the  following  memorandum  of  identification  is  appended  ; 

MR.  THOMAS  BROWN  is  Cashier  and  Manager  of  the  Bank  of  California. 

MR.  LLOYD  TEVIS  is  President  and  Manager  of  the  Bank  of  Wells, 
Fargo  &  Co. 

MR.  IGNATZ  STEINHART  is  the  Manager  of  the  Anglo-Californian 
Bank.  * 

MR.  A.  MONTPELUER  is  Cashier  and  Manager  of  the  Grangers'  Bank 
of  California. 

MR.  R.  C.  WOOI.WORTH  is  President  and  Manager  of  the  Crocker- 
Woolworth  Bank. 

MR.  I.  W.  HEW,MAN  is  President  and  Manager  of  the  Nevada  Bank 
of  California. 

MR.  ROBERT  J.  TOBIN  is  Secretary  and  Manager  of  the  Hibernia  Sav- 
ings and  Loan  Society. 

MR.  L.  GOTTIG  is  President  and  Manager  of  the  German  Savings  and 
Loan  Society. 

MR.  JAMES  G.  FAIR  is  President  of  the  Mutual  Savings  Bank. 


44  Irrigation  District  Experting. 

MR.  S.  P.  YOUNG  is  Secretary  and  Manager  of  the  California  Safe 
Deposit  and  Trust  Co. 

MR.  ALBERT  Mn,i<ER  is  President  and  Manager  of  the  San  Francisco 
Savings  Union. 

MR.  DANIEI,  MEYER  is  an  individual  Banker,  and  extensive  Dealer  in 
Securities. 


or  CAUFOJ 

AT 


TC 

824     Hall  - 
C2E14b  Butte  water 
supply  and 
land  project. 


cop. 2 


1952 


TC 
824 

C2H14b 
cop.  2 


